Gen Z ‘translators’ promise to connect brands with elusive younger customers

Connecting with Gen Z is crucial for brands, especially as teens and twenty-somethings gain spending power and influence. But doing so can be a bit of an art. That’s why a new crop of companies are offering “translation” services for brands that want to speak Gen Z’s language and, as they say, get “locked in.” 

While many Gen Z translation businesses are still in their infancy, the Wall Street Journal reported that it already represents a multi-million-dollar industry. Some analysts estimate that Gen Z’s spending power is set to grow to $12.6 trillion by 2030, up from $9.8 trillion in 2024, according to the Journal.

At the same time, Gen Z is far more digitally native than their predecessors, meaning they are far more used to getting information, shopping, and managing their lives online. 

They also seem extremely driven to make choices according to their values. According to a Lightspeed Commerce report, released earlier this year, 96% of Gen Z says they shop according to their values. 

Gen Z translators for brands

Marketing agency NightyEight—named after 1998, the first birth year for members of this generational group—strategizes around the lives of real Gen Zers. The company uses insights from its Gen Z community, which it calls the “Koi Pond,” to figure out the best ways for brands to appeal to the generation. According to the company, NightyEight isn’t “just targeting Gen Z,” but “building the future of marketing with them.”

According to Edelman, a company that formed in 2022 and has similar aims to NightyEight, brands need to think more strategically than ever to connect with Gen Z, because for this group, trends evolve very, very quickly. 

In a recent report titled “The Great Divide,” Edelman noted that “Gen Z is coming of age in a world that feels like it is simultaneously breaking apart and speeding up. Our society is a high-pressure environment, riddled with fear and uncertainty,” something that Gen Z is “hyperaware” of. 

“As a result, Zers have high hopes for brands. They are open to stronger two-way relationships, but they will also impose higher penalties when expectations are not met,” Edelman wrote.

Values drive Gen Z choices

Those insights are essential for brands that may not understand what Gen Z values, but should, analysts said. 

“A hallmark of Gen Z is coming to age in a hyper-connected world. In this world, every follow, like, repost, and even purchase is a direct reflection of a person’s identity and values,” Lightspeed CEO Dax Dasilva previously told Fast Company. “Through this connected world, there is a never-ending exposure to global issues, where activism, accountability, and ‘cancel culture’ move at the speed of light.”

Perhaps fortunately for the brands that need most help relating to Gen Z, the generation seems extremely willing to speak up about what’s important to them. According to Celine Chai, one of the Gen Z founders of NightyEight, the generation is overtly interested in offering their insights. “People write paragraphs,” Chai told the Journal, referring to surveys of Gen Z. “I don’t think people try as hard in school.”

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